I was using 3.8.1.677. I did not have the "Use non-X View' option selected.
I'm now using 4.0.0.624. I selected the 'Use non-X View' option and it did speed things up significantly. It's not quite as fast as 3.8.1.677 but it's close enough to not drive me nuts anymore.
Will this setting speed up automation tasks as well or does it only affect UI-based queries?